Peck & Peck
Bonnie Garmus
13 October 2026
Signed Exclusive Independent Bookshop Edition

THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GLOBAL SENSATION LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY RETURNS . . .

‘Charming, uplifting, soulful, and original, Peck & Peck is the perfect successor to Lessons In Chemistry. If you loved Elizabeth Zott, you will adore Batter Gray’ KRISTIN HANNAH

‘This novel is everything: a love story, a literary thriller, a brilliant satire that’s full of humor and heart. Only Bonnie Garmus can write like this’ MEG MASON, internationally bestselling author of Sorrow and Bliss

Peck & Peck tells the irresistible story of a young man whose life turns upside down when he is hired by the most prestigious, secretive and dysfunctional poetry journal in the world: the renowned Peck & Peck.

It’s 1982, New York City. Crime is on the rise, muggings are in the streets, and Batter Gray, recent college graduate with a skill that no one wants – an ‘ear’ for poetry – is worried about his future. While all his friends have real jobs, he’s folding T-shirts at the Gap. As for love? No. Not unless you count Sallie Mae, the student loan tyrant. He hears from Sallie all the time.

But when Batter gets a dream job at Peck & Peck, the most prestigious poetry quarterly in the world, his life moves into the literary fast lane. Soon Batter is knee-deep in the secret war between the two Editors in Chief, the famous Peck brothers – twins and enemies – as well as being privy to the private affairs of their thirty-nine editors, whose professed mission is the same: Find originality. Reward creativity. Burn the rest. And by ‘burn’, they mean incinerate.

Because at Peck & Peck, ‘good’ isn’t good enough, ‘interesting’ doesn’t cut it, plagiarists aren’t tolerated, and parolees run the mailroom. Still want to submit your poem? Go with God.

Welcome to another dazzling and unforgettable novel from Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry. Hugely original, brilliantly funny and peopled with unforgettable characters, Peck & Peck is both a passionate ode to the written word and a heartwarming exploration of all that makes us human.

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From the author of the award-winning, global bestseller Lessons in Chemistry:
*Translated into more than forty languages and developed as a major TV series for Apple TV
*Featured on BBC Radio 4 and BBC TV Between the Covers
*Winner of the Goodreads Choice Best Debut Novel Award
*Winner of the Books are My Bag Reader’s Choice Award
*Winner of the Books are My Bag Breakthrough Author Award
*Winner of the Paul Torday Prize
*Shortlisted for the Comedy Women in Print Prize
*Shortlisted for the HWA Crown Award
*A Book of the Year for: Guardian, Times, Sunday Times, New York Times, Good Housekeeping, Woman & Home, Stylist, TLS, Oprah Daily, Newsweek, Mail on Sunday, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, India Knight, Hay Festival, Waterstones, Amazon and many more
*Bonnie Garmus was awarded Author of the Year at the British Book Awards

Praise for Lessons in Chemistry:
‘Sparky, rip-roaring, funny’ SUNDAY TIMES
‘The most charming, life-enhancing novel I’ve read in ages’ INDIA KNIGHT, Book of the Year
‘Funny, thought-provoking and stylish’ GUARDIAN
‘I loved it’ NIGELLA LAWSON
‘Iconic’ PANDORA SYKES
‘Page-turning and highly satisfying tale’ MAGGIE SHIPSTEAD